Oscars 2014: Cate, Matthew,‘12 years a slave’ pick up top honours
Los Angeles: That's a wrap - And so, the Oscars is over for another year.
'12 Years A Slave' had the last word, but the epic drama shared the night's spoils with 'Gravity'.
The top-grossing space disaster won a leading seven Oscars, including best director for Alfonso Cuaron, while Steve McQueen's '12 Years A Slave' won three - best supporting actress for Lupita Nyong'o, best adapted screenplay and the night's top honor - best picture.
'Dallas Buyers Club' also triumphed, winning three Oscars, including best actor and best supporting actor for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
'American Hustle', which was nominated in ten categories, however, emerged the loser with no Oscars.
Also empty handed were 'The Wolf of Wall Street', which had five nominations, 'Nebraska' and 'Captain Phillips', which both had six nominations, and 'Philomena', which had four.
'The Great Gatsby', which wasn't shortlisted for best film, won two Oscars while 'Frozen' scored the best animated feature award and best original song. 'Her', meanwhile, won best original screenplay.
As expected, Cate Blanchett added a best actress Oscar to her haul of trophies for her riveting performance in 'Blue Jasmine'. Host Ellen DeGeneres spared us the song and dance numbers and a pre-recorded skit featuring humorous references to nominated films.
She made the audience laugh but never wince as she poked fun at stars, ordered in pizza, broke Twitter with her A-lister overloaded selfie and handed lottery scratch cards to Bradley Cooper as a consolation prize.
And those watching at home seemed to like what they saw; in a snap poll by CBS, 88 percent of voters said they thought the well-loved talkshow host so good she should return next year. Will she be back? We'll have to wait and see what the ratings say.
The winners are:
Best Picture: The winner is ‘12 Years A Slave’. Directed by Steve McQueen, the film was nominated for nine Oscars tonight. The film took home the prize for best-adapted screenplay as well. Based on a true story, "12 Years A Slave" stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free African-American man in the 19th century who was kidnapped and forced into slavery. It won the Bafta award for Best Film and the best drama Golden Globe award this year. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas accepted the award. This is the first time a black director's film has taken the top Oscar.
Best Actor: The Oscar goes to Matthew McConaughey for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. This is his first Academy Award nomination and win. McConaughey won a Golden Globe for his performance as well. In "Dallas Buyers Club" he plays Ron Woodroof, a rodeo cowboy who learns he is HIV-positive. Determined to survive, Woodroof organizes an illicit trade in a drug cocktail that shows signs of slowing the virus's progress.
Best Actress: The winner is - no surprises here - Cate Blanchett for ‘Blue Jasmine’. This is her second Oscar and sixth nomination. She previously won the award for best supporting actress for ‘The Aviator’ in 2004. In "Blue Jasmine" Blanchett plays a New York socialite who moves to San Francisco to live with her sister when her life falls apart. She also won a Golden Globe for her performance. Blanchett gets a standing ovation as she goes up to the stage. "Sit down, you're too old to be standing," she tells the audience.
Best Director: The prize goes to Alfonso Cuaron for 'Gravity'. This is the sixth nomination for the Mexican director, also nominated for two other awards tonight. With his win tonight for film editing, this is Cuaron's second Oscar. 'Gravity' received 10 nominations overall, and this is the seventh win for the film tonight.
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Oscar goes to John Ridley for '12 Years A Slave'. This is his first Oscar nomination and win. The film received nine nominations overall. '12 Years A Slave,' based on a true story, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free African-American man in the 19th century who was kidnapped and forced into slavery.
Best Original Song: The winners of the Academy Award for best song are Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez for 'Let It Go' from the animated film 'Frozen'. They are both first time nominees and winners. The pair have obviously been rehearsing their speech and it's a tight and funny list of thank you's. Robert Lopez now has the rare EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony.
Best Original Score: The Oscar goes to Steven Price for 'Gravity'. This is his first Academy Award. This is the sixth Oscar for 'Gravity' tonight. The film received 10 nominations overall. The 3-D spectacle stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts adrift in space after an accident.
Achievement in Production Design: A second win for 'The Great Gatsby'. This is Production Designer Catherine Martin's second win tonight. This is the first nomination and win for Set Decorator Beverley Dunn. Nothing so far for American Hustle, which started the night with a leading 10 nominations.
Achievement in Film Editing: The award goes to Alfonso Cuaron for 'Gravity'. He is also nominated tonight for Best Director and the film could still win Best Picture. This is the first nomination and win for Mark Sanger.
Achievement in Sound Editing: 'Gravity' wins again. This is the second nomination and first win for Glenn Freemantle. He was last nominated in 2008 for 'Slumdog Millionaire.' The space blockbuster, which took over four years to make and has grossed more than $700 million world wide, was expected to dominated the technical categories.
Achivement in Sound Mixing: 'Gravity' wins. This is the first win for Skip Lievsay. It's his sixth nomination, third in sound mixing, including two nods in this category tonight. This is the first nomination and win for Niv Adiri and Christopher Benstead. It's the fourth nomination for Chris Murno including two nominations in this category tonight. It's his second win, he won in the Sound category in 2001 for 'Black Hawk Down.'
Honorary Oscars: The recipients of this year's honorary Oscars are announced, Steven Martin, Angela Lansbury and Angelina Jolie. The honorary Oscars were awarded at the Governors Awards ceremony in Hollywood in November 2013.
Best Foreign Language FIlm: Ewan McGregor and Viola Davis announce the Oscar for best foreign language film. The Oscar goes to the 'The Great Gatsby.'
This is the 11th Oscar and the 28th nomination for Italy in this cateogory. The film directed by Paolo Sorrentino focuses on a journalist exploring the beauty of Rome. 'The Great Beauty' also won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe this year. Italy's Last win at the Academy Awards was in 1998 for the film 'Life is Beautiful'.
Best Live Action Short Film: ‘Helium’ wins the Oscar. The film focuses on a hospital janitor who tells a dying boy stories of a magical land called Helium. This is the first nomination and win for Anders Walter. This is Kim Magnusson's fifth nomination and second win. He won this category in 1998 with the a film called 'Election Night' (‘Valgaften’).
Best Animated Feature Film: Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey announce the best animated feature winner, and as expected it's the Disney blockbuster ‘Frozen’. The award goes to Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho. They are all first time winners, and this is the first animated feature Oscar for Walt Disney's legendary film studio. ‘Frozen’ tells the story of a kingdom trapped in eternal winter, and follows the adventure of Anna, Kristoff and a snowman named Olaf as they try to lift the spell. The film was nominated for two Oscars tonight. These are the first Academy Award nominations for Lee and Del Vecho. This is the second nomination for Buck.
Best Animated Short Film: ‘Mr. Hublot’, a story of an eccentric, isolated man, Mr. Hublot, who finds his carefully ordered world disrupted by the arrival of Robot Pet. This is the first nomination and win for Lauren Witz and Alexandre Espigares.
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ wins. This is the first nomination and win for both Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathwes. They beat The Lone Ranger and, probably this year's unlikeliest Oscar contender, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.
Best supporting actor: 'Dallas Buyers Club' Jared Leto wins first Oscar - Leto, who's been winning all the precursor awards, hugs his mom and co-star Matthew McConaughey and shakes Jonah Hill's hand as he takes the stage. In a long and eloquent speech, Leto dedicates the award to his mother - "a high school dropout and a single mom" in 1970s Louisiana who taught him how to dream. Leto, who won the best supporting award for his role as a transgender AIDS patient in 'Dallas Buyers Club', says:
Achievement in Costume Design: The Oscar goes to Catherine Martin for ‘The Great Gatsby.’ Martin is married to director Baz Lhurmann, this is her sixth nomination and third win. She won for both Costume Design and Art Direction-Set Decoration in 2002 for Lhurmann's film 'Moulin Rouge'. She has two nominations for 'The Great Gatsby' tonight.
